Genesis 41:5

 Genesis 41:5

And he slept and dreamed the second time: and, behold, seven ears of corn came up upon one stalk, rank and good.

a. NASB 1995: He fell asleep and dreamed a second time; and behold, seven ears of grain came up on a single stalk, plump and good.  [New American Standard Bible 1995 (NASB1995) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.]

b. NKJV: He slept and dreamed a second time; and suddenly seven heads of grain came up on one stalk, plump and good.  [Scripture quotations marked "NKJV" are taken from the New King James Version®, Copyright© 1982, Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.]

c. Classic Amplified:  But he slept and dreamed the second time; and behold, seven ears of grain came out on one stalk, plump and good.  [Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC) Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation]

d. Stone Edition Torah/Prophets/Writings: He fell asleep and dreamt a second time, and Behold! Seven ears of grain were sprouting on a single stalk, healthy and good.   [The Artscroll Series/Stone Edition, THE TANACH--STUDENT SIZE EDITION Copyright 1996, 1998 by Mesorah Publications, Ltd.]

e. ESV: And he fell asleep and dreamed a second time. And behold, seven ears of grain, plump and good, were growing on one stalk.  [Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001, 2007, 2011, 2016 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.]

f. Unless otherwise stated, all Greek and Hebrew definitions are from Blue Letter Bible

1. “And he slept and dreamed the second time: and, behold, seven ears of corn came up upon one stalk, rank and good.”

a. [And he] slept [Strong: 3462 yâshên, yaw-shane'; a primitive root; properly, to be slack or languid, i.e. (by implication) sleep (figuratively, to die); also to grow old, stale or inveterate:—old (store), remain long, (make to) sleep.]

b. [and] dreamt [Strong: 2492 châlam, khaw-lam'; a primitive root; properly, to bind firmly, i.e. (by implication) to be (causatively to make) plump; also (through the figurative sense of dumbness) to dream:—(cause to) dream(-er), be in good liking, recover.]

c. [the] second time [Strong: 8145 shênîy, shay-nee'; from H8138; properly, double, i.e. second; also adverbially, again:—again, either (of them), (an-) other, second (time).]

d. [and] behold [Strong: 2009 hinnêh, hin-nay'; prolongation for H2005; lo!:—behold, lo, see.]

e. seven [Strong: 7651 shebaʻ, sheh'-bah; or (masculine) (שִׁבְעָה shibʻâh); from H7650; a primitive cardinal number; seven (as the sacred full one); also (adverbially) seven times; by implication, a week; by extension, an indefinite number:—(+ by) seven(-fold),-s, (-teen, -teenth), -th, times).]

f. ears [of corn] [Strong: 7641 shibbôl, shib-bole; or (feminine) שִׁבֹּלֶת shibbôleth; from the same as H7640; a stream (as flowing); also an ear of grain (as growing out); by analogy, a branch:—branch, channel, ear (of corn), (water-)flood, Shibboleth.]

g. came up [Strong: 5927 ʻâlâh, aw-law'; a primitive root; to ascend, intransitively (be high) or actively (mount); used in a great variety of senses, primary and secondary, literal and figurative:—arise (up), (cause to) ascend up, at once, break (the day) (up), bring (up), (cause to) burn, carry up, cast up, shew, climb (up), (cause to, make to) come (up), cut off, dawn, depart, exalt, excel, fall, fetch up, get up, (make to) go (away, up); grow (over) increase, lay, leap, levy, lift (self) up, light, (make) up, × mention, mount up, offer, make to pay, perfect, prefer, put (on), raise, recover, restore, (make to) rise (up), scale, set (up), shoot forth (up), (begin to) spring (up), stir up, take away (up), work.]

h. [upon] one [Strong: 259 ʼechâd, ekh-awd'; a numeral from H258; properly, united, i.e. one; or (as an ordinal) first:—a, alike, alone, altogether, and, any(-thing), apiece, a certain, (dai-) ly, each (one), eleven, every, few, first, highway, a man, once, one, only, other, some, together,]

i. stalk [Strong: 7070 qâneh, kaw-neh'; from H7069; a reed (as erect); by resemblance a rod (especially for measuring), shaft, tube, stem, the radius (of the arm), beam (of a steelyard):—balance, bone, branch, calamus, cane, reed, × spearman, stalk.]

j. rank [Strong: 1277 bârîyʼ, baw-ree'; from H1254 (in the sense of H1262); fatted or plump:—fat ((fleshed), -ter), fed, firm, plenteous, rank.]

k. [and] good [Strong: 2896 ṭôwb, tobe; from H2895; good (as an adjective) in the widest sense; used likewise as a noun, both in the masculine and the feminine, the singular and the plural (good, a good or good thing, a good man or woman; the good, goods or good things, good men or women), also as an adverb (well):—beautiful, best, better, bountiful, cheerful, at ease, × fair (word), (be in) favour, fine, glad, good (deed, -lier, -liest, -ly, -ness, -s), graciously, joyful, kindly, kindness, liketh (best), loving, merry, × most, pleasant, pleaseth, pleasure, precious, prosperity, ready, sweet, wealth, welfare, (be) well(-favoured).]

1). In accordance with his goodness, for God is a good and merciful God, God was giving Pharaoh a means of averting a disaster for Egypt through the dreams and giving Joseph the interpretation of the dreams. Henry Morris writes in his book The Genesis Record, it was not “for the purpose of embarrassing or dethroning the king of Egypt. As a matter of fact his own control over the country was destined to be strengthened by these events; but the underlying purpose of it all had to do rather with God’s plan for Israel. Therefore not only did God give Joseph the true interpretation of the dreams, but also an effective plan of action for Pharaoh.”

2). God giving dreams and their interpretation here is an example of the gifts of the Spirit, in particular, the word of wisdom, one of the gifts of the Spirit in operation. Kenneth E. Hagin writes in “Concerning Spiritual Gifts”: “The difference between the two gifts, the word of knowledge and the word of wisdom is that the revelation which the word of knowledge brings is always present tense or something which happened in the past. The word of wisdom always speaks of the future.” Here a 14 year plan to avert a disaster that would have come upon the known world. All the nations around Egypt suffered from this famine (Genesis 41:57), that was allowed by God to happen. He did not cause it, but in his goodness, mercy, and grace provided a means to endure through it.